


What You Have Risen Above

by HiNerdsItsCat (HiLarpItsCat)



Series: Uncertain Point of View [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Atollon (Star Wars), Dathomir, Luke Skywalker Needs A Hug, POV Ezra Bridger, POV Second Person, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Star Wars: Rebels S03E20, Star Wars: Rebels Spoilers, Tatooine (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 12:48:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16534874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiLarpItsCat/pseuds/HiNerdsItsCat
Summary: Your name is Ezra Bridger. You are a Rebel and a Jedi… and you really messed up.You thought you were supposed to go to Tatooine and bring Obi-Wan Kenobi back to help the Rebellion. Instead, you walked right into Maul's trap and led him straight to Kenobi.Then Maul does something no one expected: he kidnaps the kid that Kenobi had been guarding all these years.





	What You Have Risen Above

**Author's Note:**

> Setting: 2 BBY, during the Rebels Season 3 episode "Twin Suns"

Your name is Ezra Bridger.

You are a Rebel.

You are learning to be a Jedi.

And, okay, you may have just screwed up a little bit.

Actually, you may have just screwed up a lot.

You don't want it to be your fault, because why would the Force give you the ability to see visions if you weren't supposed to do something about them, but you really should have known better.

For what feels like the millionth time, you walked into a trap.

You thought you were bringing a hero of the Republic back to help the Rebellion, but instead you were just leading Maul right to him. For your troubles, you almost died of dehydration on Tatooine and got scolded by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi himself.

To make matters worse, Kenobi has no interest in aiding the Rebellion and implies that he has another task to complete, one that is somehow more important. You figure that if he thinks it's important enough to sit around on a desert planet while the entire galaxy goes to pieces, you're not going to have much luck convincing him otherwise.

You and Chopper sit around a fire with Kenobi and wait for Maul to arrive.

He never does.

Instead, you hear the sound of a growing commotion at one of the farms in the distance.

You don't know why Maul would go after any of the locals when the entire point of him coming here is because of his obsession with Kenobi, but the Jedi Master apparently knows why. In fact, Kenobi's composure vanishes almost instantly and he looks very close to complete panic. Your age and agility give you an advantage, so you're able to grab Chopper and scramble aboard Kenobi's dewback before he leaves without you.

The three of you arrive at the Lars moisture farm and learn from the neighbors that Owen and Beru Lars are dead and their nephew is missing.

* * *

You were familiar with Obi-Wan Kenobi long before you actually met him: he had a few recordings on Kanan’s holocron and you also remember seeing his message warning the Jedi away from the Temple on Coruscant after Order 66. Even then, he looked very calm.

He is not calm right now.

Fortunately, his years of being a hermit have given him the habit of muttering out loud to himself, so you’re able to piece a few things together. First, that missing kid’s name is Luke and he was the reason why Kenobi was stuck here on Tatooine this whole time. You figure out that if Kenobi is here guarding him it must mean that he is a Force user. Kenobi is certain that Maul figured that part out as well, though he likely doesn’t realize just how important Luke is.

It takes you a few attempts to get Kenobi’s attention before he finally explains that he believes that Luke Skywalker is the Chosen One.

You have no idea what he means with the whole “Chosen One” thing but you recognize that surname. Anakin Skywalker had a kid? Well, that definitely explains why Kenobi is upset that Maul kidnapped him.

You tell Kenobi that you’ll help him track down Maul and Luke.

He immediately turns you down.

You try to keep from losing your temper and explain a few things to him:

First, you’re the one who screwed up and led Maul to Kenobi and, by extension, to Luke. This is your responsibility and you’re going to make it right.

Second, you point out that Kenobi has been living in the middle of nowhere for over fifteen years and is probably pretty behind on almost everything going on in the rest of the galaxy. He doesn’t know the best way to travel without attracting the Empire’s notice, or how to contact the Rebellion, or even what a normal person would consider “reasonable clothes.” Plus, you have Chopper, who is probably better at all of this than any of you.

Third, you’ve dealt with Maul before and that might give you an edge in finding him. In fact, the only reason why he was able to lure you here to Tatooine to begin with was because your minds still have some kind of lingering connection that he was able to manipulate with that holocron shard. So why can’t the connection work both ways?

And finally, despite your complete lack of preparation for a desert climate, you aren’t exactly a helpless little kid. You’ve been living on your own since you were seven, you’ve been a part of the _Ghost_ crew for almost three years now, and Kanan has been training you to be a Jedi the whole time. You’ve gone up against Imperials, Inquisitors, and even had a few encounters with Darth Vader himself.

The mention of Vader is what gets Kenobi’s attention. For the first time since he learned that Maul took Luke, he actually looks at you like you’re a person and not some kind of mirage.

He asks you where your ship is located. You wince and admit that it blew up.

Kenobi gets a very odd look on his face: one of annoyance and, for some reason, the slightest hint of amusement.

* * *

Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn’t the only one who lost a little mental stability after years of isolation. You tell the Jedi Master how Maul attempted to make you his apprentice (in fact, it’s possible that he hasn’t entirely given up on that), and that it’s probably going to take awhile before he manages to stay on track enough to try turning Luke to the Dark Side. As long as Luke remembers what Kenobi taught him, he’ll stay on the right path, just like you did with Kanan’s help.

Kenobi says that he never trained Luke. He says that he’s never even talked to Luke.

Even Chopper lets loose some profanity over that revelation.

Nearly sputtering, you ask Kenobi why he would spend all these years watching over Luke and not train him when he’s supposed to be the “Chosen One.” Does that mean that _Maul_ is the one breaking the news to Luke that he’s Force-sensitive?

 _Karabast._ Now you’re beginning to understand why Kenobi is panicking.

No time to haggle over passage on a ship. You’re going to have to steal one instead.

* * *

During your search for Maul, you do your best to get Kenobi caught up on what happened in the years he was on Tatooine. Most of his interest is Jedi-related: questions about the temples that you’ve visited, especially the one on Lothal, and encounters with anyone who may have survived the Purge. He is stunned to learn that Ahsoka and Rex survived, but then you have to tell him that only Rex is still alive now. It’s still painful remembering her sacrifice to save you and Kanan from Vader on Malachor.

You find yourself getting angry at Kenobi and surprise even yourself when you demand to know why he didn’t try to take out Vader instead of going into exile. He’s a Jedi Master, surely he would have been a match for a Sith. He could have saved so many people. He could have saved Ahsoka.

Kenobi doesn’t answer but for a moment it’s as though the Force trembles around him.

* * *

For someone so unhinged, Maul turned out to be surprisingly predictable: he took Luke to Dathomir.

You really hate that place. Hopefully you won’t have to fight off a bunch of angry ghosts this time.

Pretty much nothing is alive on Dathomir, so there really isn’t much point in hiding your approach. Chopper sets the ship down a short distance away from Maul’s creepy lair. Chopper also does a brief scan of the area, checking for life signs, so you know the general area you should be going in. The plan is for Kenobi to confront Maul while you rescue Luke. You reassure Kenobi that Luke is almost certainly fine because Maul is pretty obsessed with getting an apprentice, but Kenobi replies without looking at you that Maul is more than willing to murder others in the name of getting revenge on him. You want to ask what exactly Kenobi did to make Maul so fixated on him, but for the slightest instant the look of pain on his face is so intense that the question dries up in your mouth.

Maul is waiting for you but Luke is nowhere to be seen. You’re off and running before Kenobi even draws his lightsaber.

Dathomir continues to be misty and dark and horrible. The Force feels twisted and warped, and you keep hearing just-audible whispers as you make your way through what could only very generously be called a forest, which is mostly just shattered and charred trees.

Green mist fills your vision. Voices rasp at you to abandon your search and just let go, to let your heavy limbs drag you down to the ground and sleep forever. You fight through it even though it feels like every negative emotion you have is resonating in time with your heartbeat. You keep going.

You trip.

As you hit the forest floor, you hear a cry of pain.

You roll over and find yourself sprawled next to a young man around your own age. Luke is curled up, hugging his knees to his chest, and looking as though he would either attack you or run in terror if he could make himself move at all.

Not really a surprise: to say that he’s had a rough day would be an understatement of galactic proportions.

* * *

By the time you manage to convince Luke that you aren’t some kind of apparition and drag him out of the mist, Kenobi had taken care of Maul. Standing over the Sith’s body, he looks older and more exhausted than you’ve ever seen him before.

Some energy returns to his face when he sees Luke, but it's obvious that Kenobi has a lot of explaining to do and isn't sure where to start.

It turns out that Luke had no idea that his father was a Jedi. He knows almost nothing about what's going on in the galaxy other than a vague idea that there is a Rebellion against the Empire and that it sounds pretty exciting.

You would be more judgmental but you remember how ignorant you were when you first came aboard the _Ghost_. Hera had to pretty much drag the whole lot of you kicking and screaming into the Rebellion.

And, like you, Luke knew absolutely nothing about the Force. You're starting to get pretty excited, because once you all get back to Atollon, you're going to have another pair of Force users, including a Jedi Master. You can't wait to see Kanan's face when he finds out.

Kenobi wants to take Luke back to Tatooine but, fortunately, he's the only one who does. You and Chopper obviously want to return to base and Luke would rather be anywhere _but_ Tatooine. You outnumber Kenobi and, more importantly, you and Chopper are the ones piloting the ship.

* * *

The base on Atollon, Chopper's namesake, is gone. The Empire practically flattened it into the ground. Terror stabs through you until Chopper notes that there are very few destroyed ships here and none of the pieces of debris resemble the _Ghost,_ so Hera must have evacuated everyone. You breathe a sigh of relief.

There is only one possible witness left here who could tell you what happened, so you leave Chopper with the ship and take the others out into the wilderness to find Bendu.

He isn't there. There are the scorch marks of heavy blaster fire on the nearby rocks, but you can't find a body so you have to assume (or at least hope) that he escaped, even though you've never been clear on whether he even had legs.

Bendu isn't there… but someone else is.

It begins as a cold shiver at the back of your neck, accompanied by the unsettling sensation that you're being watched.

The wind picks up, sending dust swirling into the air and sending you into a fit of coughing. Luke and Kenobi seem to be taking it better than you are, which makes sense given that they lived on a desert planet where sandstorms are common. Kenobi's face, however, is hardening into a resolve that you don't understand but assume doesn’t mean anything good.

The cold feels familiar.

Finally, over the noise of the wind you can hear a sound that has accompanied your nightmares for over a year: the regular rhythm of mechanical breathing.

Darth Vader.

He is coming towards you, steadily, without hurrying, but with an inevitability that roots you to the ground with fear. His lightsaber is already drawn, its red light diffused by the grit in the air. He is staring, not at you, but at Kenobi.

Kenobi turns to you and orders you and Luke to run. He draws his own lightsaber and faces Vader.

You know that you should run. You know that you can't survive a direct confrontation with a Sith and that it's up to you to get Luke to safety. But this moment feels so horribly similar to what happened on Malachor that you can't obey Kenobi's command.

You're sick of people sacrificing themselves for you because you had the bad fortune to cross paths with Darth Vader yet again. You're sick of watching people die while you run away.

So you draw your lightsaber and join the fight.

You try your best to stay out of Kenobi's way and work on keeping Vader distracted enough to give the Jedi Master an upper hand. It works for awhile, until Vader gives you a shove with the Force that knocks the air out of your lungs and sends you flying a dozen meters away.

You can't get to your feet fast enough and you can't run back into range fast enough and before you can do anything to help, Vader cuts Kenobi down.

Your mind can barely take in the fact that Kenobi's body somehow vanished, because all you can think of is Luke and the fact that he has been frozen in place since the moment Vader arrived.

You start yelling, trying to get Vader's attention, but then it becomes clear that you forgot something important:

Luke Skywalker has had the worst day of his entire life and now has absolutely nothing left to lose.

He pulls Kenobi's lightsaber into his hand using the Force and swings it at Vader as hard as he can.

It takes Vader's arm off at the elbow.

Vader jumps back a couple of meters and, although Luke looks furious enough to try and continue hacking away at him, you know that even without an arm Vader is still extremely lethal and the only reason why Luke managed to hit him at all was due to surprise. You grab Luke and start to drag him away as Vader recovers.

You know you won't be fast enough but maybe this time you can be the one to do the rescuing while Luke gets away.

The air around you erupts with scarlet fire.

For a moment you think that it's Vader's lightsaber, but then the brightness fades and you realize that it's coming from the opposite direction.

Chopper came to pick you up.

He lays down covering fire while you and Luke jump up onto the ramp of the ship.

As you join Chopper in the cockpit, the droid informs you that the reason why it took him so long to show up was because he was busy blowing up a TIE Advanced that had landed nearby.

You hope Vader enjoys his unexpected vacation on Atollon.

* * *

Your name is Ezra Bridger. You’re piloting a stolen ship, you don’t know where your friends are, and you just watched a Sith kill a Jedi. You screwed up and people are dead because of your recklessness, and you don’t know how you’re going to make up for that. You can’t really cope right now.

Fortunately, Chopper is better at handling this sort of thing than you are, and he plots a course to Rebel Command on Yavin IV.

On the way, you and Luke talk. He is still blindingly furious and vows that he will make Vader pay for what he did to Kenobi. If Kanan were here, he would probably warn Luke about the Dark Side, but you aren’t Kanan and you think that Luke's anger is justified. This is far too much for one person to handle, though, so you tell him you’ll do whatever it takes to help him get his revenge.

Besides, surprise or not, if Luke was able to use telekinesis and land a hit on Vader with absolutely no training whatsoever, imagine what he could do once he’s had a chance to learn.

It wasn’t the Force user that you were looking for, but it’s true that you _did_ bring back someone who could help the Rebellion.

**Author's Note:**

> Music: Mélovin, "Play This Life"


End file.
